Na: Crystal Ross O'Hara
ʻO kahi hui liʻiliʻi akā hoʻolaʻa i Atwater i kapa ʻia ʻo Tree Partners Foundation ke hoʻololi nei i ka ʻāina a hoʻololi i nā ola. Hoʻokumu ʻia a alakaʻi ʻia e ke Kauka Jim Williamson hoihoi, ua hoʻokumu mua ka hui hou i nā hui me ka Merced Irrigation District, Pacific Gas & Electric Company, ka National Arbor Day Foundation, Merced College, nā ʻāpana kula kūloko a me nā aupuni kūlanakauhale, ka California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, a me ka Federal Penitentiary ma Atwater.
Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Williamson, nāna i hoʻokumu i ka Tree Partners Foundation me kāna wahine ʻo Barbara ma 2004, ua ulu ka hui mai kāna hana ʻana i nā kumulāʻau he mau makahiki. Hoʻohanohano nā Williamsons i nā kumulāʻau no nā kumu he nui: ke ʻano o ka hoʻopili ʻana i nā kānaka i ke ʻano; kā lākou hāʻawi ʻana i ka ea maʻemaʻe a me ka wai; a me ko lākou hiki ke hoʻemi i ka walaʻau, hoʻohaʻahaʻa i nā bila pono, a hāʻawi i ka malu.
ʻO ke kanu lāʻau, mālama, a me ka hoʻonaʻauao lāʻau e hoʻopuni i nā lawelawe o ke kahua a pili i nā ʻōpio a me nā pākeke.
"Ke noho nei māua me kaʻu wahine me ka noʻonoʻo ʻana, ʻaʻole mākou e ola mau loa, no laila ʻoi aku ka maikaʻi o ka hoʻomaka ʻana i kahi kahua inā makemake mākou e hoʻomau kēia," wahi a Williamson. ʻO ka Tree Partners Foundation he ʻehiku wale nō lālā o ka papa, akā he mau lālā koʻikoʻi lākou o ke kaiāulu, ʻo ia hoʻi ʻo Dr. Williamson, ke kuhina nui o Atwater, he kumu kula hoʻomaha hoʻomaha, ke alakaʻi o ka mālama ʻana no ka Apana kula haʻahaʻa o Atwater, a me ka mea mālama ulu lāʻau o ke kūlanakauhale.
ʻOiai ka nui, ua hoʻokumu ke kumu i nā papahana like ʻole a he nui nā mea hou aku i nā hana. Hoʻomaikaʻi ʻo Williamson a me nā mea ʻē aʻe i ka kūleʻa o ka hui i kahi papa alakaʻi ikaika a me ka hoʻokumu ʻana i nā hui koʻikoʻi he nui. "Pomaikai loa mākou," wahi a Williamson. "Inā makemake au i kekahi mea, aia mau nō ia."
Nā Pahuhopu Koʻikoʻi
E like me ka nui o nā hui ululāʻau kūlanakauhale ʻaʻole waiwai, hāʻawi ka Tree Partners Foundation i nā manawa hoʻonaʻauao no Atwater a me nā kamaʻāina o ka ʻāina, e hāʻawi ana i nā seminar e pili ana i ke kanu ʻana, mālama ʻana, a me ka nānā ʻana i ka nahele kūlanakauhale. Hoʻokomo mau ke kumu i nā kanu lāʻau, alakaʻi i nā kumu lāʻau, a hāʻawi i ka mālama lāʻau.
Ua hana ka Tree Partners Foundation i ka launa pū ʻana me nā keʻena aupuni i pahuhopu mua. Hāʻawi ka hui i nā manaʻo e pili ana i nā kulekele kumulāʻau o ke kūlanakauhale, nā hoa pili me nā keʻena kūloko ma nā noi hāʻawi, a koi i nā aupuni kūloko e kau i ka manaʻo i ka mālama ʻana i ka nahele kūlanakauhale.
ʻO kekahi hana i haʻaheo loa ai ke kahua, ʻo ia kona kūleʻa i ka hōʻoia ʻana i ke kūlanakauhale ʻo Atwater e hana i kahi kūlana ululāʻau kūlanakauhale. "I kēia mau manawa waiwai [pilikia] ua hiki iaʻu ke hōʻike iā lākou he mea pono no ka hoʻokele waiwai ka hana ʻana i nā kumulāʻau i mea nui," wahi a Williamson.
Ulu Laau, Loa'a ka Naauao
ʻO kekahi o nā hui koʻikoʻi i hoʻokumu ʻia e ke kumu me ka Federal Penitentiary ma Atwater. He mau makahiki i hala aku nei ʻo Williamson, ka mea i kōkua i kona kupuna kāne me ka hale liʻiliʻi o ko lākou ʻohana, pili pū me ka luna kiaʻi mua o ka hale paʻahao, ʻo Paul Schultz, ʻo ia i kona wā kamaliʻi i kōkua i kona kupuna kāne ponoʻī i kāna hana ma ke ʻano he mea hoʻolālā ʻāina ma ke Kulanui ʻo Princeton. Manaʻo nā kāne ʻelua i ka hana ʻana i kahi hānai liʻiliʻi ma ka hale paʻahao e hāʻawi i ka hoʻomaʻamaʻa ʻoihana i nā paʻahao a me nā kumulāʻau i ke kaiāulu.
Loaʻa i ka Tree Partners Foundation kahi kahu hānai 26-acre ma ka pūnaewele, me kahi lumi e hoʻonui ai. Mālama ʻia ia e nā mea manawaleʻa mai ke keʻena palekana liʻiliʻi o ka hale paʻahao i loaʻa i ka hoʻomaʻamaʻa waiwai e hoʻomākaukau ai iā lākou no ke ola ma waho o nā paia o ka hale paʻahao. No Williamson, ʻo ia pū me kāna wahine he kākāʻōlelo i ka hana pilikino, ʻo ka hāʻawi ʻana i kahi manawa no ka poʻe paʻahao e aʻo ai i nā mākau kahu hānai. "He hui maikaʻi wale nō ia," wahi āna e pili ana i ka pilina i kūkulu ʻia me ka hale paʻahao.
Ke hoʻomaka nei nā hoʻolālā nui no ka nursery. Ke hana nei ke kahua me ke Kulanui ʻo Merced e hāʻawi i nā papa ukali i nā paʻahao e hāʻawi i kahi papahana ʻoihana hōʻoia. E aʻo ka poʻe paʻahao i nā kumuhana e like me ka ʻike ʻana i nā mea kanu, ka lāʻau biology, ka pilina o ka lāʻau a me ka lepo, ka mālama ʻana i ka wai, ka meaʻai kumu lāʻau a me ka hoʻomomona ʻana, ke koho ʻana i nā kumulāʻau, ke ʻoki ʻana, a me ka hōʻoia ʻana i nā maʻi kanu.
Hāʻawi ʻo Nursery i nā hoa kūloko
Hāʻawi ka nursery i nā kumulāʻau i nā keʻena a me nā hui like ʻole, me nā aupuni kūloko, nā kula, a me nā hale pule. "ʻAʻole hiki iā mākou ke hoʻokomo i nā kumulāʻau alanui i loaʻa iā mākou a mālama i nā kumulāʻau alanui i loaʻa iā mākou inā ʻaʻole no ka Tree Partners Foundation," wahi a Atwater Mayor a me Tree Partners Foundation Board Member Joan Faul.
Hāʻawi ka nursery i nā kumulāʻau kūpono no ke kanu ʻana ma lalo o nā laina uila iā PG&E no ka hoʻohana ʻana i kumu lāʻau pani. A ke kanu nei ka nursery i nā kumulāʻau no ka hāʻawi ʻana aku i nā kumulāʻau kūʻai makahiki o Merced Irrigation District. I kēia makahiki ke manaʻo nei ke kahua e hoʻolako i 1,000 mau kumulāʻau 15-galani no ka papahana hāʻawi ʻana o ka ʻāpana wai. "He mea mālama kālā nui ia iā lākou, me ka hāʻawi kālā ʻana i kā mākou hui," wahi a Atwater's Urban Forester and Tree Partners Foundation Board Member ʻo Bryan Tassey, nona nā hana he nui i ka mālama ʻana i ka nursery.
Ua ʻōlelo ʻo Tassey, ʻo ia hoʻi ke aʻo ʻana ma ke Kulanui ʻo Merced, ua kahaha ʻo ia i ka nui o ka ulu ʻana o ka nursery a me ka papahana i kahi manawa pōkole. "I hoʻokahi makahiki i hala aku nei he ʻāina ʻole," wahi āna. "Ua hele mai mākou i kahi ala."
Hua Hua
ʻO ka hapa nui o nā mea i hoʻokō ʻia e ka Tree Partners ma muli o ke kākau haʻawina kūleʻa.
No ka laʻana, ua loaʻa i ke kumu kahi hāʻawi kālā $50,000 USDA Forest Service. ʻO ka lokomaikaʻi o nā hui kūloko—me kahi haʻawina $17,500 mai ka Atwater Rotary Club a me nā haʻawina like ʻole mai nā ʻoihana kūloko—ua hoʻoikaika pū i ka holomua o ka Tree Partners.
Wahi a Williamson, ʻaʻole makemake ka hui i ka hoʻokūkū me nā kahu hānai kūloko, akā i ka loaʻa kālā e hoʻomau i kāna hana ma ke kaiāulu. "ʻO kaʻu pahuhopu i koʻu ola ʻana ʻo ka hoʻomau ʻana i ka nursery a ke manaʻoʻiʻo nei wau e hana mākou," wahi āna.
ʻO kahi pahuhopu a ka Tree Partners Foundation i hana ai no kekahi mau makahiki he hui pū me ka National Arbor Day Foundation (NADF) e hiki ai i ka Tree Partners Foundation ke hana ma ke ʻano he mea hoʻolako a hoʻouna aku i nā lāʻau āpau o NADF i hoʻouna ʻia i kona mau lālā Kaleponi.
ʻO nā hui a me nā ʻoihana e hoʻouna ana i nā kumulāʻau mai waho o Kaleponi ke kū nei i nā koi mahiʻai koʻikoʻi. ʻO ka hopena, i ka hui ʻana o nā poʻe Kaleponi i ka NADF, loaʻa iā lākou nā kumu kumu kumu ʻole (6 a 12-iniha kumu me ka lepo ʻole a puni nā aʻa) i hoʻouna ʻia mai Nebraska a i Tennessee.
Ke kūkākūkā nei ka Tree Partners Foundation e lilo i mea hoʻolako no nā lālā o NADF o Kaleponi. Hāʻawi ka Hui Laʻau i nā kumu lāʻau—mea kanu ola me ka lepo ma ke kumu aʻa—ʻo ia ka mea i manaʻoʻiʻo ai ke kumu e ʻoi aku ka olakino a me ka hou o nā lāʻau no nā lālā o NADF.
I ka wā mua, ʻōlelo ʻo Tassey, pono nā hoa lāʻau e ʻaelike i nā kahu hānai kūloko no ka nui o nā kumulāʻau. Akā ʻōlelo ʻo ia ʻaʻole ʻike ʻo ia i ke kumu i hiki ʻole ai i ka nursery o ke kumu ke hoʻolako i nā lāʻau āpau i nā lālā o NADF o Kaleponi. Wahi a Tassey, ke hāʻawi nei ka National Arbor Day Foundation i ka puna a hāʻule i kēia manawa ma kahi o 30,000 mau lāʻau i kēlā me kēia makahiki i Kaleponi. "He nui ka mana ma Kaleponi, kahi i hauʻoli nui ai ka Arbor Day Foundation," wahi āna. “ʻO ia ke ʻimi nei i ka ʻili. Manaʻo mākou he miliona lāʻau i loko o ʻelima mau makahiki.
ʻO ia, wahi a Tassey lāua ʻo Williamson, he ʻanuʻu hou ia i ke kūpaʻa kālā no ka hui a me kahi ululāʻau kūlanakauhale olakino no Atwater a ma waho. "ʻAʻole mākou waiwai, akā ke hele maikaʻi nei mākou e lilo i mea hoʻomau," wahi a Williamson.